“It may not seem sexy, but consistency is the secret ingredient to making customers happy,” an Insights and Publications article by McKinsey & Company opens.

The article goes on to describe the 3 Cs that make up the consistency element of customer satisfaction: customer journey consistency, emotional consistency and consistency of communication.

1. Customer Journey Consistency

Omnichannel consistency is important. In the digital age customers are likely to interact with your company from several different devices and interactions should be consistent across channels. If your company has a brick and mortar store, customers might stop by for a visit. And what they expect to have is a consistent customer service. People are comfortable with what they know – so don’t keep them guessing. Interactions across all channels should be similar. Remember, customers should perceive their effort score as being very low when choosing to interact with your brand. This is a key metric in improving customer satisfaction.

2. Emotional Consistency

According to McKinsey & Company, “for bank customers, ‘a brand I feel close to’ and ‘a brand that I can trust’” were the top drivers for bank differentiation on customer experience. It also appears that having a positive customer experience is one of the top drivers for increasing customer loyalty. Customers are stressed out by unpredictable situations. Companies need to keep things positive and consistent so customers feel like they have a real connection with the brand. Just one bad experience or interaction with your company can dismantle the feelings of trust and loyalty that has taken years of hard work to create. A great way to forge an emotional bond with the customer is to add a personalized element to their interactions with you, be it online, in-person or from their mobile device. This way customers are made to feel like they are not just a number to you – they matter, and that’s important.

3. Communication Consistency

Customers want all communications from your company to be similar in nature. Mixed messages is something that is a definite deterrent. The method of delivery is almost as critical as what you deliver and promise your customers. With so many various touchpoints for customer engagement, this is becoming increasingly critical. It’s easy for your brand’s voice and company vision to get lost with all the chatter across channels. Don’t let it. Customers don’t have patience for variability. Nor should they. It’s your company’s job to ensure that all communications coming from you are delivered in a manner that creates a consistent representation of your company’s mission and engenders customer’s loyalty and trust.

Creative Virtual specializes in improving customer satisfaction and decreasing the perceived customer effort score. We keep things easy and consistent with the deployment of our omnichannel intelligent virtual agents. Our virtual agents are a tool that companies can use that will go a great way towards creating this consistency across all channels. If you haven’t checked out our solutions yet, contact us for a demonstration today.